


All That's Left Of Yesterday

by Bandita_Dieci



Series: Mondays [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-22
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-14 07:49:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2183721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bandita_Dieci/pseuds/Bandita_Dieci
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And one night, cuddled in the warmth of the being she’d never stopped calling hers, Jessica came to an agreement.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All That's Left Of Yesterday

**Author's Note:**

> Again, kudos to regalxlegality over on tumblr for allowing me the use of her wonderful Regina and to ican-giveyoustars over on tumblr for the use of her fantastic Roger.

At some point in time, Jessica grew accustomed to the hallucination’s appearance.  It was not always around, but every now and again a white Rabbit would dance just outside of her vision like the tail of a kite torn away by the wind, beckoning to the edges of her sanity.  Sometimes it wasn’t even a Toon – once in a long while it would be the rabbit that for nine long years haunted her days, trailed by a little honey-colored bunny who took great care in nuzzling against him.

Perhaps it was a side-effect of drinking bleach, although the most she’d ever seen that do was cause people to become violently ill, even herself, at first, before her human body acclimated itself to the taste.  Then again, it could be years and years of living catching up to her; she’d just passed sixty before the change, and now she was just past three-quarters of a century, old enough that by all accounts she shouldn’t be working in a body this young, one that perpetually aged but not quick enough for her liking.  Keeping all of the years straight while masquerading as something other than she was – it would take a toll on anybody.

But Jessica Rabbit was never one to let those tolls change her performance.

Truth be told, the hallucination seemed to elevate her efficiency to unknown levels – a mark of her desperation to avoid appearing less than completely sane when she could see a pair of rabbits bounding down the hall just in front of her coworkers’ feet.

_She never reached for them,_   
_not even when leather-bound_   
_soles stepped on fluffy tails,_   
_long floppy ears, or through_   
_two entire bodies hopping_   
_along contentedly, heads_   
_smashed beneath iron feet—_

_not even the first time, when_   
_she was unsure whether they_   
_were real or not – because who_   
_knew, perhaps one of her oblivious_   
_coworkers brought along a child_   
_who insisted on bringing their_   
_pet bunny rabbits with them, (Hah!_   
_That employee would be fired on_   
_the spot!  They couldn’t have pets_   
_running around here) and maybe_   
_they’d escaped from their cage_   
_somehow and a little girl would be_   
_heartbroken over the loss of her two_   
_pets (she shouldn’t have brought them_   
_here, the idiot) – or maybe, even worse,_   
_they’d escaped from a pet shop and_   
_figured out how to get on an elevator_   
_and ride up to this floor, and really_   
_she couldn’t have flinched, couldn’t_   
_move because she needed to prove,_   
_more to herself than to anyone else,_   
_that she really wasn’t going completely_   
_**i          n          s          a          n         e**_

Yet on the quietest of nights when she had to retrain herself how to breathe past the fading remembrances of a happier time, the image of the white Rabbit alleviated her panic.  Although in most cases his appearance was nothing more than an annoyance, in those moments he was only a  _comfort_.  And one night, cuddled in the warmth of the being she’d never stopped calling  _hers_ , Jessica came to an agreement.

_You can exist_ , she thought, nuzzling his soft fur.  
 _ **I give up.**_

And that was how today, a Monday, Jessica sat at her desk with a white Rabbit perched just behind her, leaning against her chair and whispering into her ear.  She smiled but did not laugh – that was one reminder that the being beside her was a simple illusion, as he was never able to get even a chuckle from her lips – and as the hallway emptied of people as the time for the boy’s approach neared, and as yet the elevator had not approached, and as in this moment they appeared to be completely alone, she had the greatest urge to lean back and kiss the Rabbit, to force herself into believing that it was real while every moment continued to prove that it wasn’t and never could be.  Instead, she gripped its paw, giving the wet fur a light squeeze.

After all, it wouldn't do for the lawyer's secretary to be seen french-kissing  _air_.

Within moments, the elevator doors opened, their bell ending the silence, and a boy on the cusp of being a teenager walked through, one hand holding onto a strap of his black backpack, his knuckles white.  It struck Jessica how much he had grown since she first started working here - not just in height but in simple mannerisms.  No longer was he a child who stampeded down the hallway like a baby elephant, trumpeting for a mother whose love he still did not understand.  In his place was this boy, one learning what it meant to grow up, each of his steps forward sure, steady, measured, and someday, she knew, he would blossom into something  _better_  than those bastards who dared to call themselves men.

Henry paused as he approached Jessica's desk, and shuffled his feet a couple of times.  The white Rabbit bent forward, whiskers twitching as a honey-colored rabbit hopped down the hallway.  The other rabbit turned to blink at him then continued on its way completely alone. Jessica untangled her hand from the Rabbit's and leaned forward, templing her fingers on the edge of her desk, her gaze meeting Henry's.  "Did you get your results?"

"Yes," he breathed, voice deeper than she remembered it being only a week before.  Henry's head lowered, and now  _both_  hands held tight to the same strap of his backpack, a frown on his face.  "It wasn't what I'd hoped."

"Let me see it."

The walls shifted to a pale laurel green around her as the Rabbit covered his mouth with both hands.  Not a second passed before he began chewing on the edges of his gloved fingers, Toon fingernails flying everywhere.  Not noticing any of this, Henry switched his backpack to his other shoulder and rummaged through the main pocket until he pulled two stapled papers out of a single red folder.  He glanced at the first page, winced, and then handed it over.  "Here."

Jessica accepted his test and put on her glasses - more often than not she wore contacts now, but every now and then she wanted this firm reminder of her past.  The Rabbit leaned forward, his gaze following Jessica's as they skimmed the first page, landing finally on a firm, bright red letter "A".  He let out a whoop, jumping for joy, but Jessica just smiled, letting her glasses slip along the bridge of her nose.  "Good job."

"Thanks."  Henry's lips curved into a soft smile as he relaxed, leaning on the weight of his back foot.  "You thought I failed, didn't you?"

Jessica's eyes widened, and her lips pursed.  "I don't know about that," she said, the hint of a laugh tucked in the back of her throat.  She handed the test back to the boy.  "Your mom will be really proud of you."

At her words, a blush spread across Henry's cheeks.  "You really think so?"

"Why don't you ask her and see?"

The boy gave a sharp nod, snatched the paper from her hand, and headed the last few yards to his mother's office.  Jessica leaned back into her chair before turning to watch the two of them.

Perhaps there were years when she could not abide the bright flash of yellow taking place, his mother's joy painting the walls in Roger's color; perhaps even when she grew used to that, she was unable to watch the two together, pangs of her own losses never quite able to disappear; and perhaps even now she was lost, allowing herself to pretend that a figment of her imagination was something akin to the husband she once knew - but none of that really mattered.  Jessica watched as the lawyer hugged her son, holding him tightly against her - no longer able to pick him up and spin with him, the years having aged the both of them too much for that - and this time--

This time a paw touched her shoulder gently, and this time she didn't need to look up to know that the Rabbit with her wasn't an illusion but her Roger, and this time she half-nuzzled against him, feeling more than seeing the smile of joy on his face, one she mirrored as they watched the two.

"They're family, aren't they?"

After a moment's consideration, she gave a faint nod.  "Yes, Roger, they are."

Before she could ask him to stay longer, the illusion became simply that - an illusion - the wet feeling on her shoulder the only indicator he had been there at all.  She sighed and returned to her work, half-hoping that she would see him again and yet knowing that she never would.

Later that night, as she went to pour her drink, she forewent the traces of bleach, choosing instead to empty what was left of it down her kitchen sink, and sat cross-legged on her couch, waiting for something she could not name.  But her patience was not rewarded with a knock, nor with a phone call, but with the buzz of a text message just as she was preparing to sleep.  She glanced at the words gleaming across the screen, read them through once - twice, and could not help but laugh.


End file.
